Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday that Hungary will offer the option of taking a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine from 1 August and will make vaccines mandatory for all healthcare workers, according to Reuters.
Orban said doctors will decide which vaccine people should take as a third dose, and it should come at least 4 months after the second shot, unless doctors advise otherwise.
Hungary, a country of 10 million, has been among the fastest countries in the European Union to inoculate the public, as the only EU state to widely deploy Russian and Chinese vaccines before they received approval from the bloc’s regulator. It has also used Western-made shots from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
The vaccination drive has slowed in the past weeks. Orban has said that in the first days of September, before the school year start, vaccines will be offered to children aged 12 to 16 at all schools.